You know about the Maker Faire, right?

October 11, 2007 at 9:10 am | Posted in Conference/Fair, Nerd Craft, Weekend Warrior | Leave a comment

Austin’s mayor, Will Wynn, just declared October 20 and 21 Maker’s Weekend in honor of the Maker Faire that will be in town that weekend. If you don’t know about the Maker Faire, it’s a giant … well, fair that brings together people who like to do it themselves and show you how to DIY too. It’s sponsored by the same folks who bring you the Make zine and the Craft zine (the O’Reilly publishers). And it IS for Crafters as much as for Makers. I think they oughtta change the name to the Maker/Crafter Faire! But this is only the second Faire (the first was last spring in San Francisco) so maybe it’s too early??

So… The “Maker Weekend” is in collaboration with the Keep Austin Weird idea that epitomizes much of what makes Austin a great place to live and work.

Keep Austin Weird Poster Maker Poster

I’m going to copy for you some of what the Maker folks had to say about it all:

“The geek-loving, gadget-happy, DIY-fest, known as Maker Faire Austin is less than two weeks away! Tickets for the Oct. 20-21 event are selling fast, and geeks and hackers from across the country (and even overseas) are making their travel plans. To welcome them, Austin Mayor Will Wynn has officially declared the weekend ‘Maker’s Weekend.’”

“Austin is such a creative, vibrant town, and Maker Faire fits right in to our vibe and spirit,” explained Mayor Wynn. “America has such a thirst right now for creative self-expression. We also have an incredible need for out-of-the-box innovation. Maker Faire embodies the best of both of these worlds, and in a way that’s smart and fun. Therefore, we couldn’t be happier to welcome Maker Faire to Austin and to declare Oct. 20-21, ‘Maker’s Weekend.’”

Maker Faire Austin

  • When: Oct. 20-21, 2007
  • Where: Travis County Expo Center, 7311 Decker Lane
  • Hours: Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 10am-5pm

For more info see the Make post on the blog or go to the website.

Nerdy Amigurumi

August 30, 2007 at 10:25 am | Posted in Nerd Craft, Ridiculous Cute | 1 Comment

Jedi Amigurumi  You can do anything with a crochet needle.  The force is with you.

Craft + Irony: Craft the Vote!

August 15, 2007 at 2:44 pm | Posted in Fabric-Related, Nerd Craft, People Doing Crafts | 1 Comment

On Craftster it says “No tea cozies without irony.” This and other things of a similar sentiment, of course, purportedly appeals to all of the “hipster-type” crafters, the younger generation, the DIYers, the vanguard of cool, the sultans of swing … ahem.

In that spirit, I present this little article I found today, which certainly was either (a) aimed squarely at us youngish crafters or (b) was written by one of us or more likely (c) both.

“Craft the Vote! Winning the presidency with a Bedazzler and a crochet hook.”

And whatever you do, don’t miss the slideshow.

Nerd Craft: the HTML (hexadecimal) Patchwork Quilt

August 13, 2007 at 11:32 am | Posted in Fabric-Related, Nerd Craft | Leave a comment

I just ran across a neat art/craft idea that also throws in some computer nerdery for good measure.

The HTML Patchwork is a collaborative effort thought up/headed by Ele Carpenter, an artist in residence at Access Space, Sheffield, UK.  Find more information at the Open Source Embroidery web page.  The online record of the actual quilt that’s going up at Access space can be found at this HTML patchwiki page.

What is it?  People choose a hexadecimal color – you do know that colors have hexadecimal values, right? – and make a quilt block out of it.  On that quilt block you embroider the hex value and something about the maker – website, name, etc.

Methinks I would like to participate, perhaps with the color #66000, which doesn’t seem to have been claimed yet.  The color, in fact, of this blog post :)

Techie – Crafty Crossovers

July 13, 2007 at 11:20 am | Posted in Nerd Craft | Leave a comment

I read two types of blogs, other than my friends’ stuff. 1) Craft-related and 2) Gadget/tech related.

It’s a little bit strange when I start seeing the same things on both of the sites, but this last week has seen a couple of unexpected crossovers.

Craft and Make both featured the knit iPhone, and then it popped up on Monday at Popgadget as well.

Then, just today, Popgadget popped up with a post on how Etsy has gone offline, a follow-up to their earlier story informing their readers about the wonderful things you can find on Etsy. Says the author today, “I love Etsy.” Don’t we all?

Tech and craft aren’t such different worlds, though. Look at all the wonderful blogs I follow (about 15 so far – check the Blogroll over there for more). And when I was trolling iTunes for new podcasts, there was a whole section on the very front page entitled “Crafty is Cool.”

Indeed it is.

Lab Coat

July 11, 2007 at 9:39 am | Posted in Nerd Craft | Leave a comment

Last night Jeff and I were discussing the fact that I am where two things collide – craft and nerd. In time, this blog will become a testament to my nerdy crafting, or my crafty nerdery, and probably some of both. Did I mention that in the daytime I function in a technological capacity?

I give you my whole week-long beer thing as an example: I like me a craft with chemistry involved. Another example – I love soapmaking. Another craft with chemistry involved.

So I feel that I deserve one of these Evil Genius lab coats from Think Geek for my frequent forays into mathematics, chemistry and sheer physical improbabilities. All in the service of creativity, of course.

Think Geek Lab Coat

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